Private Queue for a Media Playback System

ABSTRACT

Embodiments are discussed for providing private playback queues in a media playback system such that users without access rights to the playback queue may not access the contents of the playback queue. The embodiments may involve receiving at a playback device of a network media system a playlist responsive to an instruction via a first controller interface, adding the playlist to a playback queue associated with the zone, receiving a request from a second controller interface for the information identifying the one or more items in the playback queue, determining that the second controller interface lacks a credential to receive the information identifying the one or more items in the playback queue, and providing the information identifying a subset of the one or more items in the playback queue to the second controller interface.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, tomethods, systems, products, features, services, and other items directedto media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Digital music has become readily available due in part to thedevelopment of consumer level technology that has allowed people tolisten to digital music on a personal audio device. The consumer'sincreasing preference for digital audio has also resulted in theintegration of personal audio devices into PDAs, cellular phones, andother mobile devices. The portability of these mobile devices hasenabled people to take the music listening experience with them andoutside of the home. People have become able to consume digital music,like digital music files or even Internet radio, in the home through theuse of their computer or similar devices. Now there are many differentways to consume digital music, in addition to other digital contentincluding digital video and photos, stimulated in many ways byhigh-speed Internet access at home, mobile broadband Internet access,and the consumer's hunger for digital media.

Until recently, options for accessing and listening to digital audio inan out-loud setting were severely limited. In 2005, Sonos offered forsale its first digital audio system that enabled people to, among manyother things, access virtually unlimited sources of audio via one ormore networked connected zone players, dynamically group or ungroup zoneplayers upon command, wirelessly send the audio over a local networkamongst zone players, and play the digital audio out loud in synchrony.The Sonos system can be controlled by software applications downloadedto certain network capable, mobile devices and computers.

Given the insatiable appetite of consumers towards digital media, therecontinues to be a need to develop consumer technology thatrevolutionizes the way people access and consume digital media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration in which certain embodiments maybe practiced;

FIG. 2A shows an illustration of an example zone player having abuilt-in amplifier and transducers;

FIG. 2B shows an illustration of an example zone player having abuilt-in amplifier and connected to external speakers;

FIG. 2C shows an illustration of an example zone player connected to anA/V receiver and speakers;

FIG. 3 shows an illustration of an example controller;

FIG. 4 shows an internal functional block diagram of an example zoneplayer;

FIG. 5 shows an internal functional block diagram of an examplecontroller;

FIG. 6 shows an example playback queue configuration for a network mediasystem;

FIG. 7 shows an example ad-hoc playback network;

FIG. 8 shows a system including a plurality of networks including acloud-based network and at least one local playback network;

FIG. 9 shows an example flow diagram for providing a private playbackqueue in a media playback system;

FIG. 10A shows a first example media playback system interface showing aprivate playback queue;

FIG. 10B shows a second example media playback system interface showinga private playback queue;

FIG. 10C shows a third example media playback system interface showing aprivate playback queue; and

FIG. 10D shows a fourth example media playback system interface showinga private playback queue.

In addition, the drawings are for the purpose of illustrating exampleembodiments, but it is understood that the inventions are not limited tothe arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

Embodiments described herein involve providing private playback queuesin a media playback system. For example, a first user may add songs or aplaylist of songs to a playback queue of a zone via a first userinterface. The first user interface may be provided on a computer ormobile device, and may be an application for accessing the mediaplayback system, or an application for accessing a music service that isalso accessible by the media playback system. In some cases, the queueof the zone may be viewed and modified by any other user accessing thequeue using a user interface configured for the media playback system.In other cases, as described herein, contents added to playback queue bythe first user may be private to the first user, and may not be fullyviewed or modified by a second user, even if the second user isaccessing the zone via a user interface configured for the mediaplayback system.

In one instance, privacy of the queue or music in the queue may bedetermined based on media playback system settings, preferences of thefirst user, and/or a credential of a second user accessing queue. In oneexample, the first user may choose to keep private all music the firstuser has added to the playback queue. In this case, the second useraccessing the queue via an interface may be provided with an indicationthat the queue includes music added by the first user (by name oranonymously), without additional information on music that has beenadded to the queue. In another case, the second user accessing theplayback queue may be provided with an indication of music that iscurrently playing (for example, “now playing” as shown relative to thename of the item playing via a controller interface), without additionalinformation on other music that has been added to the queue by the firstuser.

In another example, the second user accessing the queue may be providedwith different amounts of information based on a credential of thesecond user. The credential of the second user may include music serviceaccess rights of the second user and/or media playback system accessrights. For instance, if the first user added music to the queue usingan application associated with a music service, the second user may beprovided at least some information on music added to the queue by thefirst user if the second user has access to the music service. Inanother instance, the second user may be provided at least someinformation on the music added to the queue by the first user if thesecond user has access to the zone associated with the queue. The amountand type of information provided to the second user in this case, may bebased on preferences of the first user as well as the credential of thesecond user. Other examples may also be possible.

As indicated above, the present application involves providing one ormore private playback queues in a media playback system such that userswithout access rights to a playback queue may not access the contents ofthe playback queue. The method involves receiving by a network mediasystem a playlist responsive to an instruction via a first controllerinterface. The network media system comprises a zone that includes aplayback device and a playback queue. The playlist identifies one ormore media items that are available for playback. The method furtherinvolves adding the playlist to a playback queue associated with thezone. The playback queue is established to contain informationidentifying one or more media items to be played by the zone. The methodalso involves receiving a request from a second controller interface forthe information identifying the one or more items in the playback queue,determining that the second controller interface lacks a credentials toreceive the information identifying the one or more items in theplayback queue, and providing the information identifying a subset ofthe one or more items in the playback queue to the second controllerinterface.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to execute functions. The functions include receiving at a bynetwork media system a playlist responsive to an instruction via a firstcontroller interface. The network media system comprises a zone thatincludes a playback device and a playback queue. The playlist identifiesone or more media items that are available for playback. The functionsfurther involve adding the playlist to a playback queue associated withthe zone. The playback queue is established to contain informationidentifying one or more media items to be played by the zone. Thefunctions also involve receiving a request from a second controllerinterface for the information identifying the one or more items in theplayback queue, determining that the second controller interface lacks acredentials to receive the information identifying the one or more itemsin the playback queue, and providing the information identifying asubset of the one or more items in the playback queue to the secondcontroller interface.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a processorand computer readable medium having stored thereon instructionsexecutable by the processor to perform function. The functions includereceiving by a network media system a playlist responsive to aninstruction via a first controller interface. The network media systemcomprises a zone that includes a playback device and a playback queue.The playlist identifies one or more media items that are available forplayback. The functions further involve adding the playlist to aplayback queue associated with the zone. The playback queue isestablished to contain information identifying one or more media itemsto be played by the zone. The functions also involve receiving a requestfrom a second controller interface for the information identifying theone or more items in the playback queue, determining that the secondcontroller interface lacks a credentials to receive the informationidentifying the one or more items in the playback queue, and providingthe information identifying a subset of the one or more items in theplayback queue to the second controller interface.

Other embodiments, as those discussed in the following and others as canbe appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art are alsopossible.

II. Example Operating Environment

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals can refer to likeparts throughout the figures, FIG. 1 shows an example media systemconfiguration 100 in which one or more embodiments disclosed herein canbe practiced or implemented.

By way of illustration, the media system configuration 100 is associatedwith a home having multiple zones, though the home could have beenconfigured with only one zone. Additionally, one or more zones can beadded over time. Each zone may be assigned by a user to a different roomor space, such as, for example, an office, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen,dining room, family room, home theater room, utility or laundry room,and patio. A single zone might also include multiple rooms or spaces ifso configured. With respect to FIG. 1, one or more of zone players102-124 are shown in each respective zone. A zone player 102-124, alsoreferred to herein as a playback device, multimedia unit, speaker,player, and so on, provides audio, video, and/or audiovisual output. Acontroller 130 (e.g., shown in the kitchen for purposes of thisillustration) provides control to the media system configuration 100.Controller 130 may be fixed to a zone, or alternatively, mobile suchthat it can be moved about the zones. The media system configuration 100may also include more than one controller 130, and additionalcontrollers may be added to the system over time.

The media system configuration 100 illustrates an example whole housemedia system, though it is understood that the technology describedherein is not limited to, among other things, its particular place ofapplication or to an expansive system like a whole house media system100 of FIG. 1.

a. Example Zone Players

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C show example types of zone players. Zone players200, 202, and 204 of FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, respectively, can correspondto any of the zone players 102-124 of FIG. 1, for example. In someembodiments, audio is reproduced using only a single zone player, suchas by a full-range player. In some embodiments, audio is reproducedusing two or more zone players, such as by using a combination offull-range players or a combination of full-range and specializedplayers. In some embodiments, zone players 200-204 may also be referredto as a “smart speaker,” because they contain processing capabilitiesbeyond the reproduction of audio, more of which is described below.

FIG. 2A illustrates zone player 200 that includes sound producingequipment 208 capable of reproducing full-range sound. The sound maycome from an audio signal that is received and processed by zone player200 over a wired or wireless data network. Sound producing equipment 208includes one or more built-in amplifiers and one or more acoustictransducers (e.g., speakers). A built-in amplifier is described morebelow with respect to FIG. 4. A speaker or acoustic transducer caninclude, for example, any of a tweeter, a mid-range driver, a low-rangedriver, and a subwoofer. In some embodiments, zone player 200 can bestatically or dynamically configured to play stereophonic audio,monaural audio, or both. In some embodiments, zone player 200 may bedynamically configured to reproduce a subset of full-range sound, suchas when zone player 200 is grouped with other zone players to playstereophonic audio, monaural audio, and/or surround audio or when theaudio content received by zone player 200 is less than full-range.

FIG. 2B illustrates zone player 202 that includes a built-in amplifierto power a set of detached speakers 210. A detached speaker can include,for example, any type of loudspeaker. Zone player 202 may be configuredto power one, two, or more separate loudspeakers. Zone player 202 may beconfigured to communicate an audio signal (e.g., right and left channelaudio or more channels depending on its configuration) to the detachedspeakers 210 via a wired path.

FIG. 2C illustrates zone player 204 that does not include a built-inamplifier, but is configured to communicate an audio signal, receivedover a data network, to an audio (or “audio/video”) receiver 214 withbuilt-in amplification.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, one, some, or all of thezone players 102 to 124 can retrieve audio directly from a source. Forexample, a particular zone player in a zone or zone group may beassigned to a playback queue (or “queue”). The playback queue containsinformation corresponding to zero or more playable audio items by theassociated zone or zone group. The playback queue may be stored inmemory on a zone player or some other designated device. Each itemcontained in the playback queue may comprise a uniform resourceidentifier (URI) or some other identifier that can be used by the zoneplayer(s) to seek out and/or retrieve the audio items from theidentified audio source(s). Depending on the item, the audio sourcemight be found on the Internet (e.g., the cloud), locally from anotherdevice over the data network 128 (described further below), from thecontroller 130, stored on the zone player itself, or from an audiosource communicating directly to the zone player. In some embodiments,the zone player can reproduce the audio itself (e.g., play the audio),send the audio to another zone player for reproduction, or both wherethe audio is reproduced by the zone player as well as one or moreadditional zone players (possibly in synchrony). In some embodiments,the zone player may play a first audio content (or alternatively, maynot play the content at all), while sending a second, different audiocontent to another zone player(s) for reproduction. To the user, eachitem in a playback queue is represented on an interface of a controllerby an element such as a track name, album name, playlist, or other someother representation. A user can populate the playback queue with audioitems of interest. The user may also modify and clear the playbackqueue, if so desired.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif. presentlyoffers for sale zone players referred to as a “PLAY:5,” “PLAY:3,”“PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any other past, present,and/or future zone players can additionally or alternatively be used toimplement the zone players of example embodiments disclosed herein.Additionally, it is understood that a zone player is not limited to theparticular examples illustrated in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C or to the SONOSproduct offerings. For example, a zone player may include a wired orwireless headphone. In yet another example, a zone player might includea sound bar for television. In yet another example, a zone player mayinclude or interact with a docking station for an Apple IPOD™ or similardevice.

b. Example Controllers

FIG. 3 illustrates an example wireless controller 300 in docking station302. By way of illustration, controller 300 may correspond tocontrolling device 130 of FIG. 1. Docking station 302, if provided orused, may provide power to the controller 300 and additionally maycharge a battery of controller 300. In some embodiments, controller 300may be provided with a touch screen 304 that allows a user to interactthrough touch with the controller 300, for example, to retrieve andnavigate a playlist of audio items, control operations of one or morezone players, and provide overall control of the system configuration100. In other embodiments, other input mechanisms such as voice controlmay be used to interact with the controller 300. In certain embodiments,any number of controllers can be used to control the systemconfiguration 100. In some embodiments, there may be a limit set on thenumber of controllers that can control the system configuration 100. Thecontrollers might be wireless like wireless controller 300 or wired todata network 128.

In some embodiments, if more than one controller is used in system 100of FIG. 1, each controller may be coordinated to display common content,and may all be dynamically updated to indicate changes made to thesystem 100 from a single controller. Coordination can occur, forinstance, by a controller periodically requesting a state variabledirectly or indirectly from one or more of the zone players; the statevariable may provide information about system 100, such as current zonegroup configuration, what is playing in one or more zones, volumelevels, and other items of interest. The state variable may be passedaround on data network 128 between zone players (and controllers, if sodesired) as needed or as often as programmed.

In addition, an application running on any network-enabled portabledevice, such as an IPHONE™, IPAD™, ANDROID™ powered phone or tablet, orany other smart phone or network-enabled device can be used ascontroller 130. An application running on a laptop or desktop personalcomputer (PC) or Mac™ can also be used as controller 130. Suchcontrollers may connect to system 100 through an interface with datanetwork 128, a zone player, a wireless router, or using some otherconfigured connection path. Example controllers offered by Sonos, Inc.of Santa Barbara, Calif. include a “Controller 200,” “SONOS® CONTROL,”“SONOS® Controller for IPHONE™,” “SONOS® Controller for IPAD™,” “SONOS®Controller for ANDROID™,” “SONOS® Controller for MAC™ or PC.”

c. Example Data Connection

Zone players 102 to 124 of FIG. 1 are coupled directly or indirectly toa data network, such as data network 128. Controller 130 may also becoupled directly or indirectly to data network 128 or individual zoneplayers. Data network 128 is represented by an octagon in the figure tostand out from other representative components. While data network 128is shown in a single location, it is understood that such a network isdistributed in and around system 100. Particularly, data network 128 canbe a wired network, a wireless network, or a combination of both wiredand wireless networks. In some embodiments, one or more of the zoneplayers 102-124 are wirelessly coupled to data network 128 based on aproprietary mesh network. In some embodiments, one or more of the zoneplayers are coupled to data network 128 using a centralized access pointsuch as a wired or wireless router. In some embodiments, one or more ofthe zone players 102-124 are coupled via a wire to data network 128using Ethernet or similar technology. In addition to the one or morezone players 102-124 connecting to data network 128, data network 128can further allow access to a wide area network, such as the Internet.

In some embodiments, connecting any of the zone players 102-124, or someother connecting device, to a broadband router, can create data network128. Other zone players 102-124 can then be added wired or wirelessly tothe data network 128. For example, a zone player (e.g., any of zoneplayers 102-124) can be added to the system configuration 100 by simplypressing a button on the zone player itself (or perform some otheraction), which enables a connection to be made to data network 128. Thebroadband router can be connected to an Internet Service Provider (ISP),for example. The broadband router can be used to form another datanetwork within the system configuration 100, which can be used in otherapplications (e.g., web surfing). Data network 128 can also be used inother applications, if so programmed. An example, second network mayimplement SONOSNET™ protocol, developed by SONOS, Inc. of Santa Barbara.SONOSNET™ represents a secure, AES-encrypted, peer-to-peer wireless meshnetwork. Alternatively, in certain embodiments, the data network 128 isthe same network, such as a traditional wired or wireless network, usedfor other applications in the household.

d. Example Zone Configurations

A particular zone can contain one or more zone players. For example, thefamily room of FIG. 1 contains two zone players 106 and 108, while thekitchen is shown with one zone player 102. In another example, the hometheater room contains additional zone players to play audio from a 5.1channel or greater audio source (e.g., a movie encoded with 5.1 orgreater audio channels). In some embodiments, one can position a zoneplayer in a room or space and assign the zone player to a new orexisting zone via controller 130. As such, zones may be created,combined with another zone, removed, and given a specific name (e.g.,“Kitchen”), if so desired and programmed to do so with controller 130.Moreover, in some embodiments, zone configurations may be dynamicallychanged even after being configured using controller 130 or some othermechanism.

In some embodiments, if a zone contains two or more zone players, suchas the two zone players 106 and 108 in the family room, then the twozone players 106 and 108 can be configured to play the same audio sourcein synchrony, or the two zone players 106 and 108 can be paired to playtwo separate sounds in left and right channels, for example. In otherwords, the stereo effects of a sound can be reproduced or enhancedthrough the two zone players 106 and 108, one for the left sound and theother for the right sound. In certain embodiments, paired zone players(also referred to as “bonded zone players”) can play audio in synchronywith other zone players in the same or different zones.

In some embodiments, two or more zone players can be sonicallyconsolidated to form a single, consolidated zone player. A consolidatedzone player (though made up of multiple, separate devices) can beconfigured to process and reproduce sound differently than anunconsolidated zone player or zone players that are paired, because aconsolidated zone player will have additional speaker drivers from whichsound can be passed. The consolidated zone player can further be pairedwith a single zone player or yet another consolidated zone player. Eachplayback device of a consolidated playback device can be set in aconsolidated mode, for example.

According to some embodiments, one can continue to do any of: group,consolidate, and pair zone players, for example, until a desiredconfiguration is complete. The actions of grouping, consolidation, andpairing are preferably performed through a control interface, such asusing controller 130, and not by physically connecting and re-connectingspeaker wire, for example, to individual, discrete speakers to createdifferent configurations. As such, certain embodiments described hereinprovide a more flexible and dynamic platform through which soundreproduction can be offered to the end-user.

e. Example Audio Sources

In some embodiments, each zone can play from the same audio source asanother zone or each zone can play from a different audio source. Forexample, someone can be grilling on the patio and listening to jazzmusic via zone player 124, while someone is preparing food in thekitchen and listening to classical music via zone player 102. Further,someone can be in the office listening to the same jazz music via zoneplayer 110 that is playing on the patio via zone player 124. In someembodiments, the jazz music played via zone players 110 and 124 isplayed in synchrony. Synchronizing playback amongst zones allows forsomeone to pass through zones while seamlessly (or substantiallyseamlessly) listening to the audio. Further, zones can be put into a“party mode” such that all associated zones will play audio insynchrony.

Sources of audio content to be played by zone players 102-124 arenumerous. In some embodiments, audio on a zone player itself may beaccessed and played. In some embodiments, audio on a controller may beaccessed via the data network 128 and played. In some embodiments, musicfrom a personal library stored on a computer or networked-attachedstorage (NAS) may be accessed via the data network 128 and played. Insome embodiments, Internet radio stations, shows, and podcasts may beaccessed via the data network 128 and played. Music or cloud servicesthat let a user stream and/or download music and audio content may beaccessed via the data network 128 and played. Further, music may beobtained from traditional sources, such as a turntable or CD player, viaa line-in connection to a zone player, for example. Audio content mayalso be accessed using a different protocol, such as AIRPLAY™, which isa wireless technology by Apple, Inc., for example. Audio contentreceived from one or more sources can be shared amongst the zone players102 to 124 via data network 128 and/or controller 130. Theabove-disclosed sources of audio content are referred to herein asnetwork-based audio information sources. However, network-based audioinformation sources are not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the example home theater zone players 116, 118, 120are coupled to an audio information source such as a television 132. Insome examples, the television 132 is used as a source of audio for thehome theater zone players 116, 118, 120, while in other examples audioinformation from the television 132 may be shared with any of the zoneplayers 102-124 in the audio system 100.

III. Example Zone Players

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown an example block diagram of azone player 400 in accordance with an embodiment. Zone player 400includes a network interface 402, a processor 408, a memory 410, anaudio processing component 412, one or more modules 414, an audioamplifier 416, and a speaker unit 418 coupled to the audio amplifier416. FIG. 2A shows an example illustration of such a zone player. Othertypes of zone players may not include the speaker unit 418 (e.g., suchas shown in FIG. 2B) or the audio amplifier 416 (e.g., such as shown inFIG. 2C). Further, it is contemplated that the zone player 400 can beintegrated into another component. For example, the zone player 400could be constructed as part of a television, lighting, or some otherdevice for indoor or outdoor use.

In some embodiments, network interface 402 facilitates a data flowbetween zone player 400 and other devices on a data network 128. In someembodiments, in addition to getting audio from another zone player ordevice on data network 128, zone player 400 may access audio directlyfrom the audio source, such as over a wide area network or on the localnetwork. In some embodiments, the network interface 402 can furtherhandle the address part of each packet so that it gets to the rightdestination or intercepts packets destined for the zone player 400.Accordingly, in certain embodiments, each of the packets includes anInternet Protocol (IP)-based source address as well as an IP-baseddestination address.

In some embodiments, network interface 402 can include one or both of awireless interface 404 and a wired interface 406. The wireless interface404, also referred to as a radio frequency (RF) interface, providesnetwork interface functions for the zone player 400 to wirelesslycommunicate with other devices (e.g., other zone player(s), speaker(s),receiver(s), component(s) associated with the data network 128, and soon) in accordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wirelessstandard including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.15, 4Gmobile communication standard, and so on). Wireless interface 404 mayinclude one or more radios. To receive wireless signals and to providethe wireless signals to the wireless interface 404 and to transmitwireless signals, the zone player 400 includes one or more antennas 420.The wired interface 406 provides network interface functions for thezone player 400 to communicate over a wire with other devices inaccordance with a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). In someembodiments, a zone player includes multiple wireless 404 interfaces. Insome embodiments, a zone player includes multiple wired 406 interfaces.In some embodiments, a zone player includes both of the interfaces 404and 406. In some embodiments, a zone player 400 includes only thewireless interface 404 or the wired interface 406.

In some embodiments, the processor 408 is a clock-driven electronicdevice that is configured to process input data according toinstructions stored in memory 410. The memory 410 is data storage thatcan be loaded with one or more software module(s) 414, which can beexecuted by the processor 408 to achieve certain tasks. In theillustrated embodiment, the memory 410 is a tangible machine-readablemedium storing instructions that can be executed by the processor 408.In some embodiments, a task might be for the zone player 400 to retrieveaudio data from another zone player or a device on a network (e.g.,using a uniform resource locator (URL) or some other identifier). Insome embodiments, a task may be for the zone player 400 to send audiodata to another zone player or device on a network. In some embodiments,a task may be for the zone player 400 to synchronize playback of audiowith one or more additional zone players. In some embodiments, a taskmay be to pair the zone player 400 with one or more zone players tocreate a multi-channel audio environment. Additional or alternativetasks can be achieved via the one or more software module(s) 414 and theprocessor 408.

The audio processing component 412 can include one or moredigital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, anaudio enhancement component or a digital signal processor, and so on. Insome embodiments, the audio processing component 412 may be part ofprocessor 408. In some embodiments, the audio that is retrieved via thenetwork interface 402 is processed and/or intentionally altered by theaudio processing component 412. Further, the audio processing component412 can produce analog audio signals. The processed analog audio signalsare then provided to the audio amplifier 416 for playback throughspeakers 418. In addition, the audio processing component 412 caninclude circuitry to process analog or digital signals as inputs to playfrom zone player 400, send to another zone player on a network, or bothplay and send to another zone player on the network. An example inputincludes a line-in connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audioline-in connection).

The audio amplifier 416 is a device(s) that amplifies audio signals to alevel for driving one or more speakers 418. The one or more speakers 418can include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”) or a completespeaker system that includes an enclosure including one or more drivers.A particular driver can be a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), amid-range driver (e.g., for middle frequencies), and a tweeter (e.g.,for high frequencies), for example. An enclosure can be sealed orported, for example. Each transducer may be driven by its own individualamplifier.

A commercial example, presently known as the PLAY:5™, is a zone playerwith a built-in amplifier and speakers that is capable of retrievingaudio directly from the source, such as on the Internet or on the localnetwork, for example. In particular, the PLAY:5™ is a five-amp,five-driver speaker system that includes two tweeters, two mid-rangedrivers, and one woofer. When playing audio content via the PLAY:5, theleft audio data of a track is sent out of the left tweeter and leftmid-range driver, the right audio data of a track is sent out of theright tweeter and the right mid-range driver, and mono bass is sent outof the subwoofer. Further, both mid-range drivers and both tweeters havethe same equalization (or substantially the same equalization). That is,they are both sent the same frequencies but from different channels ofaudio. Audio from Internet radio stations, online music and videoservices, downloaded music, analog audio inputs, television, DVD, and soon, can be played from the PLAY:5™.

IV. Example Controller

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown an example block diagram forcontroller 500, which can correspond to the controlling device 130 inFIG. 1. Controller 500 can be used to facilitate the control ofmulti-media applications, automation and others in a system. Inparticular, the controller 500 may be configured to facilitate aselection of a plurality of audio sources available on the network andenable control of one or more zone players (e.g., the zone players102-124 in FIG. 1) through a wireless or wired network interface 508.According to one embodiment, the wireless communications is based on anindustry standard (e.g., infrared, radio, wireless standards includingIEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.15, 4G mobile communicationstandard, and so on). Further, when a particular audio is being accessedvia the controller 500 or being played via a zone player, a picture(e.g., album art) or any other data, associated with the audio and/oraudio source can be transmitted from a zone player or other electronicdevice to controller 500 for display.

Controller 500 is provided with a screen 502 and an input interface 514that allows a user to interact with the controller 500, for example, tonavigate a playlist of many multimedia items and to control operationsof one or more zone players. The screen 502 on the controller 500 can bean LCD screen, for example. The screen 500 communicates with and iscommanded by a screen driver 504 that is controlled by a microcontroller(e.g., a processor) 506. The memory 510 can be loaded with one or moreapplication modules 512 that can be executed by the microcontroller 506with or without a user input via the user interface 514 to achievecertain tasks. In some embodiments, an application module 512 isconfigured to facilitate grouping a number of selected zone players intoa zone group and synchronizing the zone players for audio playback. Insome embodiments, an application module 512 is configured to control theaudio sounds (e.g., volume) of the zone players in a zone group. Inoperation, when the microcontroller 506 executes one or more of theapplication modules 512, the screen driver 504 generates control signalsto drive the screen 502 to display an application specific userinterface accordingly.

The controller 500 includes a network interface 508 that facilitateswired or wireless communication with a zone player. In some embodiments,the commands such as volume control and audio playback synchronizationare sent via the network interface 508. In some embodiments, a savedzone group configuration is transmitted between a zone player and acontroller via the network interface 508. The controller 500 can controlone or more zone players, such as 102-124 of FIG. 1. There can be morethan one controller for a particular system, and each controller mayshare common information with another controller, or retrieve the commoninformation from a zone player, if such a zone player storesconfiguration data (e.g., such as a state variable). Further, acontroller can be integrated into a zone player.

It should be noted that other network-enabled devices such as anIPHONE™, IPAD™ or any other smart phone or network-enabled device (e.g.,a networked computer such as a PC or MAC™) can also be used as acontroller to interact or control zone players in a particularenvironment. In some embodiments, a software application or upgrade canbe downloaded onto a network-enabled device to perform the functionsdescribed herein.

In certain embodiments, a user can create a zone group (also referred toas a bonded zone) including at least two zone players from thecontroller 500. The zone players in the zone group can play audio in asynchronized fashion, such that all of the zone players in the zonegroup playback an identical audio source or a list of identical audiosources in a synchronized manner such that no (or substantially no)audible delays or hiccups are to be heard. Similarly, in someembodiments, when a user increases the audio volume of the group fromthe controller 500, the signals or data of increasing the audio volumefor the group are sent to one of the zone players and causes other zoneplayers in the group to be increased together in volume.

A user via the controller 500 can group zone players into a zone groupby activating a “Link Zones” or “Add Zone” soft button, or de-grouping azone group by activating an “Unlink Zones” or “Drop Zone” button. Forexample, one mechanism for ‘joining’ zone players together for audioplayback is to link a number of zone players together to form a group.To link a number of zone players together, a user can manually link eachzone player or room one after the other. For example, assume that thereis a multi-zone system that includes the following zones: Bathroom,Bedroom, Den, Dining Room, Family Room, and Foyer.

In certain embodiments, a user can link any number of the six zoneplayers, for example, by starting with a single zone and then manuallylinking each zone to that zone.

In certain embodiments, a set of zones can be dynamically linkedtogether using a command to create a zone scene or theme (subsequent tofirst creating the zone scene). For instance, a “Morning” zone scenecommand can link the Bedroom, Office, and Kitchen zones together in oneaction. Without this single command, the user would manually andindividually link each zone. The single command may include a mouseclick, a double mouse click, a button press, a gesture, or some otherprogrammed or learned action. Other kinds of zone scenes can beprogrammed or learned by the system over time.

In certain embodiments, a zone scene can be triggered based on time(e.g., an alarm clock function). For instance, a zone scene can be setto apply at 8:00 am. The system can link appropriate zonesautomatically, set specific music to play, and then stop the music aftera defined duration. Although any particular zone can be triggered to an“On” or “Off” state based on time, for example, a zone scene enables anyzone(s) linked to the scene to play a predefined audio (e.g., afavorable song, a predefined playlist) at a specific time and/or for aspecific duration. If, for any reason, the scheduled music failed to beplayed (e.g., an empty playlist, no connection to a share, failedUniversal Plug and Play (UPnP), no Internet connection for an InternetRadio station, and so on), a backup buzzer can be programmed to sound.The buzzer can include a sound file that is stored in a zone player, forexample.

V. Playback Queue

As discussed above, in some embodiments, a zone player may be assignedto a playback queue identifying zero or more media items for playback bythe zone player. The media items identified in a playback queue may berepresented to the user via an interface on a controller. For instance,the representation may show the user (or users if more than onecontroller is connected to the system) how the zone player is traversingthe playback queue, such as by highlighting the “now playing” item,graying out the previously played item(s), highlighting the to-be-playeditem(s), and so on.

In some embodiments, a single zone player is assigned to a playbackqueue. For example, zone player 114 in the bathroom of FIG. 1 may belinked or assigned to a “Bathroom” playback queue. In an embodiment, the“Bathroom” playback queue might have been established by the system as aresult of the user naming the zone player 114 to the bathroom. As such,contents populated and identified in the “Bathroom” playback queue canbe played via the zone player 114 (the bathroom zone).

In some embodiments, a zone or zone group is assigned to a playbackqueue. For example, zone players 106 and 108 in the family room of FIG.1 may be linked or assigned to a “Family room” playback queue. Inanother example, if family room and dining room zones were grouped, thenthe new group would be linked or assigned to a family room+dining roomplayback queue. In some embodiments, the family room+dining roomplayback queue would be established based upon the creation of thegroup. In some embodiments, upon establishment of the new group, thefamily room+dining room playback queue can automatically include thecontents of one (or both) of the playback queues associated with eitherthe family room or dining room or both. In one instance, if the userstarted with the family room and added the dining room, then thecontents of the family room playback queue would become the contents ofthe family room+dining room playback queue. In another instance, if theuser started with the family room and added the dining room, then thefamily room playback queue would be renamed to the family room+diningroom playback queue. If the new group was “ungrouped,” then the familyroom+dining room playback queue may be removed from the system and/orrenamed to one of the zones (e.g., renamed to “family room” or “diningroom”). After ungrouping, each of the family room and the dining roomwill be assigned to a separate playback queue. One or more of the zoneplayers in the zone or zone group may store in memory the associatedplayback queue.

As such, when zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped”dynamically by the user via a controller, the system will, in someembodiments, establish or remove/rename playback queues respectively, aseach zone or zone group is to be assigned to a playback queue. In otherwords, the playback queue operates as a container that can be populatedwith media items for playback by the assigned zone. In some embodiments,the media items identified in a playback queue can be manipulated (e.g.,re-arranged, added to, deleted from, and so on).

By way of illustration, FIG. 6 shows an example network 600 for mediacontent playback. As shown, the example network 600 includes examplezone players 612 and 614, example audio sources 662 and 664, and examplemedia items 620. The example media items 620 may include playlist 622,music track 624, favorite Internet radio station 626, playlists 628 and630, and album 632. In one embodiment, the zone players 612 and 614 maybe any of the zone players shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4. For instance,zone players 612 and 614 may be the zone players 106 and 108 in theFamily Room.

In one example, the example audio sources 662 and 664, and example mediaitems 620 may be partially stored on a cloud network, discussed morebelow in connection to FIG. 8. In some cases, the portions of the audiosources 662, 664, and example media items 620 may be stored locally onone or both of the zone players 612 and 614. In one embodiment, playlist622, favorite Internet radio station 626, and playlist 630 may be storedlocally, and music track 624, playlist 628, and album 632 may be storedon the cloud network.

Each of the example media items 620 may be a list of media itemsplayable by a zone player(s). In one embodiment, the example media itemsmay be a collection of links or pointers (i.e. URI) to the underlyingdata for media items that are stored elsewhere, such as the audiosources 662 and 664. In another embodiment, the media items may includepointers to media content stored on the local zone player, another zoneplayer over a local network, or a controller device connected to thelocal network.

As shown, the example network 600 may also include an example queue 602associated with the zone player 612, and an example queue 604 associatedwith the zone player 614. Queue 606 may be associated with a group, whenin existence, comprising zone players 612 and 614. Queue 606 mightcomprise a new queue or exist as a renamed version of queue 602 or 604.In some embodiments, in a group, the zone players 612 and 614 would beassigned to queue 606 and queue 602 and 604 would not be available atthat time. In some embodiments, when the group is no longer inexistence, queue 606 is no longer available. Each zone player and eachcombination of zone players in a network of zone players, such as thoseshown in FIG. 1 or that of example zone players 612, 614, and examplecombination 616, may be uniquely assigned to a corresponding playbackqueue.

A playback queue, such as playback queues 602-606, may includeidentification of media content to be played by the corresponding zoneplayer or combination of zone players. As such, media items added to theplayback queue are to be played by the corresponding zone player orcombination of zone players. The zone player may be configured to playitems in the queue according to a specific order (such as an order inwhich the items were added), in a random order, or in some other order.

The playback queue may include a combination of playlists and othermedia items added to the queue. In one embodiment, the items in playbackqueue 602 to be played by the zone player 612 may include items from theaudio sources 662, 664, or any of the media items 622-632. The playbackqueue 602 may also include items stored locally on the zone player 612,or items accessible from the zone player 614. For instance, the playbackqueue 602 may include Internet radio 626 and album 632 items from audiosource 662, and items stored on the zone player 612.

When a media item is added to the queue via an interface of acontroller, a link to the item may be added to the queue. In a case ofadding a playlist to the queue, links to the media items in the playlistmay be provided to the queue. For example, the playback queue 602 mayinclude pointers from the Internet radio 626 and album 632, pointers toitems on the audio source 662, and pointers to items on the zone player612. In another case, a link to the playlist, for example, rather than alink to the media items in the playlist may be provided to the queue,and the zone player or combination of zone players may play the mediaitems in the playlist by accessing the media items via the playlist. Forexample, the album 632 may include pointers to items stored on audiosource 662. Rather than adding links to the items on audio source 662, alink to the album 632 may be added to the playback queue 602, such thatthe zone player 612 may play the items on the audio source 662 byaccessing the items via pointers in the album 632.

In some cases, contents as they exist at a point in time within aplayback queue may be stored as a playlist, and subsequently added tothe same queue later or added to another queue. For example, contents ofthe playback queue 602, at a particular point in time, may be saved as aplaylist, stored locally on the zone player 612 and/or on the cloudnetwork. The saved playlist may then be added to playback queue 604 tobe played by zone player 614.

VI. Example Ad-Hoc Network

Particular examples are now provided in connection with FIG. 7 todescribe, for purposes of illustration, certain embodiments to provideand facilitate connection to a playback network. FIG. 7 shows that thereare three zone players 702, 704 and 706 and a controller 708 that form anetwork branch that is also referred to as an Ad-Hoc network 710. Thenetwork 710 may be wireless, wired, or a combination of wired andwireless technologies. In general, an Ad-Hoc (or “spontaneous”) networkis a local area network or other small network in which there isgenerally no one access point for all traffic. With an establishedAd-Hoc network 710, the devices 702, 704, 706 and 708 can allcommunicate with each other in a “peer-to-peer” style of communication,for example. Furthermore, devices may join and/or leave from the network710, and the network 710 will automatically reconfigure itself withoutneeding the user to reconfigure the network 710. While an Ad-Hoc networkis referenced in FIG. 7, it is understood that a playback network may bebased on a type of network that is completely or partially differentfrom an Ad-Hoc network.

Using the Ad-Hoc network 710, the devices 702, 704, 706, and 708 canshare or exchange one or more audio sources and be dynamically grouped(or ungrouped) to play the same or different audio sources. For example,the devices 702 and 704 are grouped to playback one piece of music, andat the same time, the device 706 plays back another piece of music. Inother words, the devices 702, 704, 706 and 708, as shown in FIG. 7, forma HOUSEHOLD that distributes audio and/or reproduces sound. As usedherein, the term HOUSEHOLD (provided in uppercase letters todisambiguate from the user's domicile) is used to represent a collectionof networked devices that are cooperating to provide an application orservice. An instance of a HOUSEHOLD is identified with a household 710(or household identifier), though a HOUSEHOLD may be identified with adifferent area or place.

In certain embodiments, a household identifier (HHID) is a short stringor an identifier that is computer-generated to help ensure that it isunique. Accordingly, the network 710 can be characterized by a uniqueHHID and a unique set of configuration variables or parameters, such aschannels (e.g., respective frequency bands), service set identifier(SSID) (a sequence of alphanumeric characters as a name of a wirelessnetwork), and WEP keys (wired equivalent privacy) or other securitykeys. In certain embodiments, SSID is set to be the same as HHID.

In certain embodiments, each HOUSEHOLD includes two types of networknodes: a control point (CP) and a zone player (ZP). The control pointcontrols an overall network setup process and sequencing, including anautomatic generation of required network parameters (e.g., securitykeys). In an embodiment, the CP also provides the user with a HOUSEHOLDconfiguration user interface. The CP function can be provided by acomputer running a CP application module, or by a handheld controller(e.g., the controller 308) also running a CP application module, forexample. The zone player is any other device on the network that isplaced to participate in the automatic configuration process. The ZP, asa notation used herein, includes the controller 308 or a computingdevice, for example. In some embodiments, the functionality, or certainparts of the functionality, in both the CP and the ZP are combined at asingle node (e.g., a ZP contains a CP or vice-versa).

In certain embodiments, configuration of a HOUSEHOLD involves multipleCPs and ZPs that rendezvous and establish a known configuration suchthat they can use a standard networking protocol (e.g., IP over Wired orWireless Ethernet) for communication. In an embodiment, two types ofnetworks/protocols are employed: Ethernet 802.3 and Wireless 802.11g.Interconnections between a CP and a ZP can use either of thenetworks/protocols. A device in the system as a member of a HOUSEHOLDcan connect to both networks simultaneously.

In an environment that has both networks in use, it is assumed that atleast one device in a system is connected to both as a bridging device,thus providing bridging services between wired/wireless networks forothers. The zone player 706 in FIG. 7 is shown to be connected to bothnetworks, for example. The connectivity to the network 712 is based onEthernet and/or Wireless, while the connectivity to other devices 702,704 and 708 is based on Wireless and Ethernet if so desired.

It is understood, however, that in some embodiments each zone player706, 704, 702 may access the Internet when retrieving media from thecloud (e.g., the Internet) via the bridging device. For example, zoneplayer 702 may contain a uniform resource locator (URL) that specifiesan address to a particular audio track in the cloud. Using the URL, thezone player 702 may retrieve the audio track from the cloud, andultimately play the audio out of one or more zone players.

VII. Another Example System Configuration

FIG. 8 shows a system 800 including a plurality of interconnectednetworks including a cloud-based network and at least one local playbacknetwork. A local playback network includes a plurality of playbackdevices or players, though it is understood that the playback networkmay contain only one playback device. In certain embodiments, eachplayer has an ability to retrieve its content for playback. Control andcontent retrieval can be distributed or centralized, for example. Inputcan include streaming content provider input, third party applicationinput, mobile device input, user input, and/or other playback networkinput into the cloud for local distribution and playback.

As illustrated by the example system 800 of FIG. 8, a plurality ofcontent providers 820-850 can be connected to one or more local playbacknetworks 860-870 via a cloud and/or other network 810. Using the cloud810, a multimedia audio system server 820 (e.g., Sonos™), a mobiledevice 830, a third party application 840, a content provider 850 and soon can provide multimedia content (requested or otherwise) to localplayback networks 860, 870. Within each local playback network 860, 870,a controller 862, 872 and a playback device 864, 874 can be used toplayback audio content.

VIII. Example Private Queue Configuration

As indicated above, the present application involves providing privateplayback queues in a media playback system such that users withoutaccess rights to the playback queue may not access the contents of theplayback queue. In discussions herein, accessing contents of a playbackqueue may involve viewing or modifying one or more media items in theplayback queue. FIG. 9 shows an example flow diagram 900 for providingprivate playback queues in a media playback system, in accordance withat least some embodiments described herein. Method 900 shown in FIG. 9presents an embodiment of a method that could be used in theenvironments 100, 600, 700, and 800 with the systems 200, 202, 204, 300,400, and 500 for example, in communication with one or more devices,such as those illustrated in FIGS. 2-5. Method 900 may include one ormore operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more ofblocks 902-910. Although the blocks are illustrated in sequential order,these blocks may also be performed in parallel, and/or in a differentorder than those described herein. Also, the various blocks may becombined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/orremoved based upon the desired implementation.

In addition, for the method 900 and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of onepossible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, eachblock may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code,which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Theprogram code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, forexample, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. Thecomputer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readablemedium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores datafor short periods of time like register memory, processor cache andRandom Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may alsoinclude non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long termstorage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks,compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computerreadable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storagesystems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. Inaddition, for the method 900 and other processes and methods disclosedherein, each block in FIG. 9 may represent circuitry that is wired toperform the specific logical functions in the process.

At block 902, the method 900 involves receiving by network media systema playlist responsive to an instruction via a first controllerinterface. In one example, the network media system may include one ormore zones, each including one or more playback devices. The one or moreplayback devices may include zone players by SONOS, Inc., as identifiedpreviously. As discussed in connection to FIG. 7, each zone of thenetwork media system may have an associated playback queue, establishedto contain information identifying one or more media items to be playedby the zone. In some cases, a particular playback queue may be coupledto each zone in the network media system. The particular playback queuemay be stored locally on one or more of the one or more playback devicesin the zone, or stored remotely on a server accessible by the one ormore playback devices in the zone.

The first controller interface may be provided on the controller 130 asdiscussed above, in the form of an application running on anynetwork-enabled device. In one case, the first controller interface maybe an application associated with the network media system, such as acontroller application for SONOS zone players. In another case, thefirst controller interface may be an application associated with a musicservice accessible by the network media system, such as an applicationfor SPOTIFY™ or SONGZA™.

The received playlist may identify one or more media items that areavailable for playback. As suggested above, the playlist may be acollection of links or pointers (i.e. URI) to the one or more mediaitems that may be stored in one or more different locations, such as ona device providing the first controller interface, a device providingother controller interfaces that may access the network media system, onone or more of the playback devices in the zone, on a local networkstorage device, or on a cloud network which may include a remote serveraccessible over the Internet. Alternatively, the playlist may includethe one or more media times themselves. Similarly, the playlist may bereceived from one or more of the different locations. In some cases, theplaylist and the one or more media items may be at least partiallyreceived from the same location. In other cases, the playlist and theone or more media items may be received from different locations. In onecase, the received playlist may further be stored by the receiving firstcontroller interface on a remote server accessible over the Internet, adevice providing the first controller interface, or any device connectedto the network media system, such as another device in the zone.

At block 904, the method 900 involves adding the playlist to a playbackqueue associated with the zone. As described above, the playback queuemay be established to contain information identifying one or more mediaitems to be played by the zone. As such, adding the playlist to aplayback queue associated with the zone may involve adding informationidentifying the one or more playable items in the playlist to theplayback queue.

In one case, the playback queue associated with the zone may be emptywhen the playlist is added. In this case, adding the playlist to theplayback queue may involve populating the playback queue withinformation identifying the one or more playable times in the playlist.

In another case, the playback queue may already have one or more mediaitems when the playlist is added. In the case the playback queue alreadyhas a media item, information identifying the one or more playable itemsin the playlist may be added before or after information identifying themedia item already in the playback queue, such that the playable itemsfrom the playlist that have been added to the queue may be played by thezone before or after the media item already in the queue, respectively.In a further case, items from the playlist may be added and distributedamong the media items already in the playback queue. For instance, thequeue may be ordered alphabetically according to track title. As such,media items from the playlist may be added to the playback queue at thecorresponding alphabetically ordered queue position.

At block 906, the method 900 involves receiving a request from a secondcontroller interface for the information identifying the one or moreitems in the playback queue. As with the first controller interface, thesecond controller interface may be provided on the controller 130 asdiscussed above, in the form of an application running on anynetwork-enabled device. Accordingly, the second controller interface maysimilarly be an application associated with the network media system,such as a controller application for SONOS zone players, or anapplication associated with a music service accessible by the networkmedia system, such as an application for SPOTIFY™ or SONGZA™. In oneembodiment, the first controller interface may be associated with amusic service accessible by the network media system to provide the oneor more media items in the playlist, while the second controllerinterface may be associated with the network media system.

In one example, the second controller interface may be accessed byanother user who may be interested in viewing and potentially modifyingthe playback queue of the zone. In some cases, as previously indicated,the playback queue may be stored in the form of a state variable on oneor more playback devices in the zone associated with the playback queue.As such, the request from the second controller interface forinformation identifying the one or more items in the playback queue mayinvolve a request for a state variable of one or more devices in thezone.

At block 908, method 900 involves determining that the second controllerinterface lacks credentials to receive the information identifying theone or more items in the playback queue. In one example, determiningthat the second controller interface lacks credentials to receiveinformation identifying each of the one or more media items in theplayback queue may further involve receiving a credential from thesecond controller interface, comparing the received credential to anaccess criteria, such as a credential of the first controller interface,and determining a subset of the information identifying one or moreitems in the playback queue based on the received credential. In onecase, the credential from the second controller interface may bereceived along with the request from the second controller interface forinformation identifying the one or more items in the playback queue.

The credentials of the first and second controller interfaces mayidentify one or more music services the respective controller interfacesmay have access to, and from which media items may be accessed by thenetwork media system to be played by the zone. For example, thecredential of the first controller interface may identify SPOTIFY™ andRHAPSODY™ as music services accessible via the first controllerinterface such that the first controller interface may be accessed tocause media items from SPOTIFY™ and RHAPSODY™ to be played by the zone.In this example, the credential of the second controller interface mayidentify SPOTIFY™ and PANDORA™ as music services accessible via thesecond controller interface such that the second controller interfacemay be accessed to cause media items from SPOTIFY™ and PANDORA™ to beplayed by the zone. The credentials of the first and second controllerinterfaces may also identify users of the first and second controllerinterface. For instance, the credential of the first controllerinterface may identify the first user, and the credential of the secondcontroller interface may identify a second user attempting to access theplayback queue via the second controller interface. The credentials ofthe first and second controller interfaces may also identify the devicesthe controller interfaces are provided on.

The credential received from the second controller interface may then becompared against a set of access criteria. For instance, the networkmedia system may be configured such that only the first user who addedmedia items to the playback queue can access the added media items. Insuch a case, the access criteria may include the credential of the firstcontroller interface from which the first user added media items to theplayback queue, and the second controller interface may only access themedia items in the playback queue if the criteria from the secondcontroller interface matches the criteria of the first controllerinterface.

The credential received from the second controller interface may furtherbe used to determine a subset of the information identifying one or moreitems in the playback queue. In one example, one or more users of thenetwork media system other than the first user may be provided access tomedia items in the playback queue. In this case, the access criteria mayinclude one or more user identifiers such that if a user identifierincluded in the credential received from the second controller interfacematches one of the one or more user identifiers included in the accesscriteria, then the second controller interface may access the mediaitems added by the first user to the playback queue. Along similarlines, different groups of users may be provided different levels ofaccess. For instance, a first group of users may have a credential toboth view and modify media items added by the first user to the playbackqueue, and a second group of users may have a credential to only viewmedia items added by the first user to the playback queue. In a furtherexample, a third group of users may have a credential to only viewcontent in the playback queue that is currently playing and/or contentin the queue to be played next. Other example levels of access arepossible.

In another example, the network media system may be configured such thatonly users with access to the same music service from which the mediaitems were added to the playback queue may access the playback queue. Insuch a case, the access criteria may include one or more music servicesfrom which media items was added. Accordingly, if the credentialreceived from the second controller interface identifies the one or moremusic services, then the second controller interface may access theplayback queue. In this case, if the playback queue includes media itemsfrom multiple music services, then the second controller interface mayaccess only the media items that were added to the playback queue frommusic services the second controller interface has access to.

In a further example, a combination of the user identifier and musicservice identifier in the credential received from the second controllerinterface may be used to determine the subset of the informationidentifying media items in the playback queue. For instance, thecredential received from the second controller interface may include auser identifier that has access to view media items in the queuecurrently being played by the zone as well as a media item next in thequeue. However, access criteria for accessing the media content in thequeue may also include a music service identifier, such as SPOTIFY™,such that the second controller interface may only access media itemsadded to the queue from SPOTIFY™, if the second controller interfacealso has access to SPOTIFY™. As such, if the credential received fromthe second controller interface does not include a music serviceidentifier for SPOTIFY™, the second controller interface may not be ableto view media items currently playing if the media item currentlyplaying was added to the playback queue from SPOTIFY™.

As previously suggested, example subsets of the information identifyingone or more items in the playback queue may include any combination ofone or more of the following: information identifying an item currentlybeing played by the zone, information identifying an item to be playednext by the zone, and information identifying items in the playbackqueue not in the playlist. Other examples are also possible.

Upon determining the subset of the information identifying one or moreitems in the playback queue that the second controller interface hasaccess to, block 910 of the method 900 involves providing theinformation identifying a subset of the one or more items in theplayback queue to the second controller interface. FIGS. 10A-10D showexample media playback system interfaces for a private playback queue,such as ones that may be provided on the second controller interface, asdiscussed herein.

FIG. 10A shows a first example media playback system interface 1000showing a private playback queue. As shown, the interface 1000 mayprovide information 1002 identifying a media item currently beingplayed, information 1006 identifying media items of a playlist added tothe playback queue via the first controller interface, and information1008 identifying media items in the playback queue not from the playlistadded to the playback queue. In this example, the second controllerinterface may have the credential to view information for all items inthe playback queue, whether or not the items were added to the playbackqueue via the first controller interface. In some cases, the items inthe playback queue that were added from the playlist may be provided ina different text or with a different emphasis. In the case of theinterface 1000, information 1006 on items in the playback queue addedfrom the playlist are provided in italicized text.

FIG. 10B shows a second example media playback system interface 1100showing a private playback queue. As shown, the interface 1100 mayprovide information 1106 indicating that the playback queue includesmedia items from a playlist that was added to the queue via the firstcontroller interface, and that is private from the second controllerinterface 1100. The interface 1100 may also provide information 1108identifying media items in the playback queue not added to the playbackqueue from the playlist. In this example, the interface 1100 may alsoprovide an indication 1110 that the media item currently being played isa media item added to the queue as part of the playlist that was addedto the queue via the first controller interface. In some exampleembodiments, indication 1110 may further identify the service, user, orfirst controller that was used to add the media items to the queue.

FIG. 10C shows a third example media playback system interface 1200showing a private playback queue. As shown, the interface 1200 mayprovide information 1206 indicating that the playback queue includesmedia items from a playlist that was added to the queue via the firstcontroller interface, and that is at least partially private from thesecond controller interface 1100. In this case, information 1206indicates the next media item in the queue, as well as the total numberand playback duration of other media items that were added to the queuewhen the playlist was added to the queue via the first controllerinterface. The interface 1200 also provides information 1208 identifyingmedia items in the playback queue not from the playlist added to theplayback queue. Analogous to the case of interface 1000, where the itemsin the playback queue that were added from the playlist may be providedin a different text, the information 1208 may also be provided indifferent text or emphasis. In this case, the information 1208 may beprovided in bold text.

FIG. 10D shows a fourth example media playback system interface 1300showing a private playback queue. As shown, the interface 1300 mayprovide information 1306 identifying media items of a playlist added tothe playback queue via the first controller interface, and information1310 identifying media items in the playback queue not from the playlistadded to the playback queue. In addition, the interface 1300 may alsoprovide graphical indicators 1308 and 1312 identifying media item in thequeue that may or may not be modified. In other words, while the secondcontroller interface may have the credential to view all the items inthe queue, the second controller interface may not have the credentialto modify certain, if any of the items in the queue. In the case ofinterface 1300, the indicator 1308 may indicate the media item currentlybeing rendered may not be removed from the queue. Similarly, theindicator 1312 may indicate which of the media items from the playlistthat was added to the queue via the first controller interface may beremoved or reordered via the second controller interface. Other examplesthat may not have been described herein may also be possible.

IX. Conclusion

The descriptions above disclose various example systems, methods,apparatus, and articles of manufacture including, among othercomponents, firmware and/or software executed on hardware. However, suchexamples are merely illustrative and should not be considered aslimiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of thesefirmware, hardware, and/or software components can be embodiedexclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively infirmware, or in any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.Accordingly, while the following describes example systems, methods,apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture, the examples provided are notthe only way(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/orarticles of manufacture.

As suggested above, the present application involves providing privateplayback queues in a media playback system such that users withoutaccess rights to the playback queue may not access the contents of theplayback queue. The method involves receiving by a network media systema playlist responsive to an instruction via a first controllerinterface. The network media system comprises a zone that includes aplayback device and a playback queue. The playlist identifies one ormore media items that are available for playback. The method furtherinvolves adding the playlist to a playback queue associated with thezone. The playback queue is established to contain informationidentifying one or more media items to be played by the zone. The methodalso involves receiving a request from a second controller interface forthe information identifying the one or more items in the playback queue,determining that the second controller interface lacks a credentials toreceive the information identifying the one or more items in theplayback queue, and providing the information identifying a subset ofthe one or more items in the playback queue to the second controllerinterface.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to execute functions. The functions include receiving at a bynetwork media system a playlist responsive to an instruction via a firstcontroller interface. The network media system comprises a zone thatincludes a playback device and a playback queue. The playlist identifiesone or more media items that are available for playback. The functionsfurther involve adding the playlist to a playback queue associated withthe zone. The playback queue is established to contain informationidentifying one or more media items to be played by the zone. Thefunctions also involve receiving a request from a second controllerinterface for the information identifying the one or more items in theplayback queue, determining that the second controller interface lacks acredentials to receive the information identifying the one or more itemsin the playback queue, and providing the information identifying asubset of the one or more items in the playback queue to the secondcontroller interface.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes a processorand computer readable medium having stored thereon instructionsexecutable by the processor to perform function. The functions includereceiving by a network media system a playlist responsive to aninstruction via a first controller interface. The network media systemcomprises a zone that includes a playback device and a playback queue.The playlist identifies one or more media items that are available forplayback. The functions further involve adding the playlist to aplayback queue associated with the zone. The playback queue isestablished to contain information identifying one or more media itemsto be played by the zone. The functions also involve receiving a requestfrom a second controller interface for the information identifying theone or more items in the playback queue, determining that the secondcontroller interface lacks a credentials to receive the informationidentifying the one or more items in the playback queue, and providingthe information identifying a subset of the one or more items in theplayback queue to the second controller interface.

Additionally, references herein to “embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment can be included in at least one example embodiment of theinvention. The appearances of this phrase in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. As such, the embodiments described herein, explicitly andimplicitly understood by one skilled in the art, can be combined withother embodiments.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible mediumsuch as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on, storing the softwareand/or firmware.

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a network media system, a playlistresponsive to an instruction provided via a first controller interface,the network media system comprising a zone that comprises a playbackdevice and a playback queue, the playlist identifying one or more mediaitems that are available for playback; adding, by the network mediasystem, the one or more media items identified by the playlist to theplayback queue of the zone, wherein the playback queue containsinformation identifying one or more media items to be played by thezone; receiving, by the network media system via a second controllerinterface, for the information identifying the one or more media itemsin the playback queue; determining, by the network media system, thatthe second controller interface lacks a credential to receive theinformation identifying the one or more media items in the playbackqueue; and providing, by the network media system to the secondcontroller interface, information identifying a subset of the one ormore media items in the playback queue.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the information identifying the subset of the one ormore media items in the playback queue comprises information identifyinga media item currently being played by the zone.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the information identifying the subset of the one or moreitems in the playback queue comprises information identifying a mediaitem to be played next by the zone.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe information identifying the subset of the one or more items in theplayback queue comprises information identifying a media item in theplayback queue that is not in the playlist.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the information identifying the subset of the one or more itemsin the playback queue comprises information identifying media items inthe playback queue that are not in the playlist and informationidentifying a media item in the playlist currently being played by thezone.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the information identifying thesubset of the one or more items in the playback queue further comprisesinformation identifying a media item in the playlist that is next in theplayback queue.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that thesecond controller interface lacks a credential to receive informationidentifying the one or more media items in the playback queue furthercomprises: receiving a credential from the second controller interface;and comparing the credential received from the second controllerinterface to a credential of the first controller interface.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: storing the received playlist onone or more of the following: (a) a remote server accessible over theInternet, (b) a device providing the second controller interface, (c) adevice providing the first controller interface, and (d) a playbackdevice in the zone.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the playlist isreceived from one or more of the following: (a) a remote serveraccessible over the Internet, (b) a device providing the firstcontroller interface, (c) a device providing the second controllerinterface, and (d) a playback device in the network media system. 11.The method of claim 1, wherein the playlist comprises pointers to theone or more media items that are available for playback.
 12. The methodof claim 1, wherein the one or more media items are stored on one ormore of the following: (a) a remote server accessible over the Internet,(b) a device providing the first controller interface, (c) a deviceproviding the second controller interface, and (d) a playback device inthe network media system.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein theplayback queue of the zone is stored on the playback device in the zone.14. The method of claim 13, wherein the request from for the informationidentifying the one or more items in the playback queue comprises arequest for a state variable of one or more devices in the zone.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the credential identifies a music serviceidentifier associated with the one or more media items in the playbackqueue.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the credential identifies auser identifier associated with the first controller interface.
 17. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the network mediasystem via a third controller interface, a request for informationidentifying the one or more items in the playback queue; determining, bythe network media system, that the third controller interface has acredential to receive data associated with each of the one or more mediaitems in the playback queue; and providing, by the network media systemto the third controller interface, information identifying the one moremedia items in the playback queue.
 18. The method of claim 1, whereinthe first controller interface is associated with a music serviceaccessible by the network media system to provide the one or more mediaitems in the playlist, and the second controller interface is associatedwith the network media system.
 19. A non-transitory computer readablemedium having stored thereon instructions executable by a computingdevice to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:receiving, by a network media system, a playlist responsive to aninstruction provided via a first controller interface, the network mediasystem comprising a zone that includes comprises a playback device and aplayback queue, the playlist identifying one or more media items thatare available for playback; adding, by the network media system, the oneor more media items identified by the playlist to the playback queue ofthe zone, wherein the playback queue contains information identifyingone or more media items to be played by the zone; receiving, by thenetwork media system via a second controller interface, a request forthe information identifying the one or more media items in the playbackqueue; determining, by the network media system, that the secondcontroller interface lacks a credential to receive the informationidentifying the one or more media items in the playback queue; andproviding, by the network media system to the second controllerinterface, information identifying a subset of the one or more mediaitems in the playback queue.
 20. A media system comprising: a zonecomprising a playback device and a playback queue; a processor; andcomputer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executableby the processor to cause the media system to perform functionscomprising: receiving a playlist responsive to an instruction providedvia a first controller interface, the playlist identifying one or moremedia items that are available for playback; adding the one or moremedia items identified by the playlist to the playback queue of thezone, wherein the playback queue contains information identifying one ormore media items to be played by the zone; receiving from a secondcontroller interface a request for the information identifying the oneor more media items in the playback queue; determining that the secondcontroller interface lacks a credential to receive the informationidentifying the one or more media items in the playback queue; andproviding to the second controller interface information identifying asubset of the one or more media items in the playback queue.
 21. Themedia system of claim 20, wherein the credential identifies a musicservice identified associated with the one or more media items in theplayback queue.